Link



Nov. 13, 1945. H. B. HOLROYD LINK Filed July 29, 1944 gvwcm Howard ELI- Ultra j wmwwm Patented Nov. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LINK Howard B. Holroyd, Davenport, Iowa Application July 29, 1944, Serial No. 547,237

(Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 6 Claims:

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, Without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to ammunition belts; more particularly it is concerned with a novel type of link for such belts.

The art of metallic belt links for ammunition belts is quite developed and such links have been the basis of no inconsiderable amount of research. A common type of metallic link comprises a pair of axially spaced cartridge gripping loops together with an offset connecting or hinge loop, all of which are mounted upon a bridge or body portion.

The practice has been to form such links from plane blanks, the loops being produced by bending into generally ring-shape elongated arms which extend from the said body, the free ends of said arms being returned to and disposed adjacent the said body or bridge. A difficulty experienced with loops formed in this manner comprises their tendency to open up and to break when subjected to strain, as when they are incorporated into a belt employing cartridges as pintles for connecting the links of which they are components, and the said belt is subjected to force which tends to elongate it. The stresses and strains set up in the hinge loop are especially pronounced, it being called upon to bear the entire load, whereas the two cartridge gripping loops serve to reinforce one another.

In order to strengthen the said hinge loop a number of different expedients have been proposed. Among these is the provision of a tab on the free end of said hinge loop adapted to overlie and rest upon the middle section of the bridge of the link similarly as is shown in United States Letters Patent No. 2,261,627 issued to Hilding A. Laystrom for Method and means for making metallic cartridge belt links. Although such construction has served fairly successfully to strengthen the hinge loop and to inhibit its bending open, it has, on the other hand, imposed an undesirable feature in that it materially increased the tendency of the cartridge held by the cartridge gripping loops of the link to walk off from said loops, 1. e., to become loosened and ultimately seriously malpositioned therein or even disengaged therefrom.

Another limiting feature of. the construction shown by the Laystrorn patent is the tendency of the tab to slip out of engagement with the bridge upon forces being applied which tend to spread or open the loop. As will be evident, upon novel ammunition belt link construction wherethe tab being drawn out of engagement with the bridge its reinforcing eifect is eliminated.

It is an object of this invention to provide in a belt link of thegeneral type described, including an overlying reinforcement tab, means whereby not only is walk off substantially eliminated but also disengagement of the said tab from the bridge is prevented.

Another object of this invention is the provision in a link of means for interlocking the free end of a loop with the bridge or body portion of the link without materially impairing the transverse flexibility of said loop.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide in a link incorporating a tab overlying a bridge section, means for preventing said tab from moving out of engagement with said bridge section without eliminating lateral movement of said tab on said bridge section.

A still further object of my invention is to teach by economical and highly effective links are aiforded.

In general my invention in its preferred form comprises the provision, in a link of the type which incorporates a tab on the free end of a hinge or connecting loop adapted to overlie a portion of a bridge at a juncture between axially spaced cartridge gripping loops, of means Whereby said tab is positively detained in registry with said bridge but is freely movable thereon transversely for an appreciable distance.

In order that a clear and concise disclosure of my invention may be made, I refer herein to the accompanying drawing which form a part of the present specification and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ammunition belt link incorporating a form of the present in vention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the link shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on line 3--3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a link embodying a modified form of the present invention;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line '5-5 of the bridge M to those portions of said bridge which directly support the cartridge gripping loops II and I2 and the dimensioning of the tab I 8, connected to the free end of the hinge loop l3, relative to the breadth of the central sec tion ll of the bridge is such that the longitudinal edges of the tab I8 are spaced appreciabl from the bases of the gradually inclined shoulders and I5. Such construction substantially eliminates the walk oif tendency of a link of the type disclosed by Laystrom, due to its providing for transverse movement of the free end of the said hinge loop l3. It will, of course, be apparent that the present invention may be employed in conjunction with other constructions than this particular combination for providing for transverse flexibility in the hinge loop In the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 a relatively large socket or concave area I 9 is provided on the under side of the tab l8 adapted to receive a relatively smal1 upstandin lug or other suitable detent member mounted upon the central portion ll of the bridge M, It will be noted that the detent 20 is shown as disposed adjacent that portion of the inner periphery of the socket l 9 which is relatively centrally located in said socket in the direction of the transverse dimension of the tab l8, and as relatively adjacent the extended end of said tab; such construction is desirable in that it facilitates transverse flexibility of the tab approximately equally in each direction but is not positively essential. The shapes of the socket and detent member may be widely varied and their positions may be interchanged, Also it is not entirely essential that the socket be substantially larger than the detent member since appreciable rotational motion of the tab relative to the bridge may occur, with a resultant degree of flexibility in the hinge loop, even though the fit of the detent in the socket be fairly tight.

The construction of Figures 4 to 6 in general simulates that of Figures 1 to 3 except that the detent 2|] is shown as received in an elongated socket le the longitudinal dimension of which is such as to extend beyond the junction lineof the tab Id with the hinge loop l3 substantially into the said hinge loop. In addition to affording the advantages of the construction shown in Figures 1 to 3, the modification of Figures 4 to. 6 serves to reinforce said tab and the junction of said tab with said hinge loop to materiall limit the tendency to bend and/or straighten when under stress. 1

It will, of course, be apparent that, if desired, the application of my invention may be limited to the provision of an interlock Which is normally flexible in one direction only.

The features of my invention may be employed in ammunition belt links of various types and forms and is by no means limited to the particular class shown herein for illustrative purposes. It is not essential that the tab overlap the bridge; it may overlap an extention of the bridge. On the other hand my invention, in its broad form, is not limited to employment of a tab type construction but comprehends the basic idea of free lateral movement in an interlock adapted to positively prevent motion of the free end of the hinge loop in a direction similar to that of its circumference. It will thus be seen that in its broad form the invention is not limited to a socket and detent type of interlock, either in a tab type construction or otherwise. Conversely the socket and detent type of interlock may be employed in constructions where transverse flexibility in the hinge loop is not afforded. The principles of my invention may be applied to any 'loop of a link and are not confined to a hinge loop or hinge loops.

' Whilel have at times referred to the desirable permissible movement of the free end of the hinge loop as transverse or lateral, such movement may be'a combination of lateral movement and rotational motion; it may be even substantially sole- 1y rotational motion as has been heretofore indicated. Therefore, it is intended that the terms transverse and lateral as employed herein and in the appended claims should be interpreted to comprehend such rotational motion and also a combination of rotational and transverse motion. Similarly, it not being essential to my present invention that the connection of the free end of the loop be directly to the bridge but rather such connection may be to an extension of the bridge, it is contemplated that the term bridge as employed herein and in the claims shall comprehend a bridge extension. Free end as used in this application is intended to refer to an end which-is not integrally attached.

Although the foregoing discourse has been devoted to the description of specific embodiments of my invention, together with certain modifications thereof, in order to provide a clear teaching ofmy invention, it is obvious that numerous addi- 40 tional modifications and eliminations will occur to one skilled in the art and this without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. It is, therefore, desired to be limited herein only by the prior art and the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a belt link comprising a body portion and a loop extending from said body portion and including a free end portion returned to and disposed adjacent said body portion, means for connecting said free end portion to said body portion comprising socket and detent elements respectively on said portions, said socket and detent elements being constructed and arranged whereby said detent fitting said socket relatively loosely to provide for limited movement of said loop away from said body portion.

'2. In a belt link comprising a transverse body portion and a generally circular loop extending from said body portion substantially normal thereto and including a free end portion returned to and disposed adjacent said body portion and adapted to move relative to said body portion both transversely of said body portion and circumferentially of said loop because of resiliency of said loop, interlock structure operatively connecting said free end portion to said body portion and including cooperating'elements respectively on said portions, one of said elements loosely fitting and being movable with respect to the other in a direction transversely of said body portion but substantially tightly fitting the other so as to preclude escape of said free end in a direction circumferentially of said loop.

3. In a belt link, a bridge, a loop on said bridge having a free end portion disposed adjacent said bridge, a tab projecting from said free end portion and overlyin a portion of said bridge, the inherent resiliency in the structure of said loop being such that said tab may move with respect to said bridge in a path generally parallel to the axis of said loop, a protuberance on one of said portions, and a relatively larger socket in said other portion constructed and arranged to receive said protuberance for limiting the aforesaid movement of said tab.

4. In a belt link, a bridge, a loop on said bridge having a free end adjacent said bridge, a tab projecting from said free end and overlying a portion of said bridge, the inherent resiliency in the structure of said loop being such that said tab may move with respect to said bridge in a path generally parallel to the axis of said loop, a protuberance on and formed integrally as a partial extrusion of said bridge, and an elongated socket formed as an indentation in said tab generally proximate to the junction of said tab and said free end and constructed and arranged to receive said protuberance for limiting the aforesaid movement of said tab and serving also to reinforce said tab and the junction of said tab with said free end to inhibit bending thereof.

5. In a belt link, a bridge, a loop on said bridge having a free end disposed adjacent said bridge, a tab projecting from said free end and overlying a portion of said bridge, the inherent resiliency in the structure of said loop being such that said tab may move with respect to said bridge in a path generally parallel to the axis of said loop, and means forming a socket in said tab elongated in the direction of the aforesaid movement of said tab and formed as an indentation in said tab generally proximate to the junction of said tab and said free end and constructed and arranged to reinforce said tab and said junction to inhibit bending thereof.

6. In a belt link, a bridge having first and sec- 0nd areas disposed in generally parallel but different planes and provided with a shoulder connecting said areas, a loop on said bridge having a free end disposed adjacent the first of said areas, a tab projecting from said free end and overlying said first area, the inherent resilienci in the structure of said loop bein such that said tab may move with respect to said bridge areas in a path generally parallel to the axis of said loop through an appreciable distance toward and away from the second of said areas, and interlock means at the interface of said tab and said first bridge area including a relatively large socket and a relatively small detent received in said socket and constructed and arranged to limit the aforesaid movement of said tab.

HOWARD B. HOLROYD. 

